1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for efficiently harvesting sugar beets, as well as red beets.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Sugar beet harvesters, of course, are well known. A number of different types have been devised and marketed. Basically, sugar beet harvesters comprise a frame having wheels at the rear thereof, the front being connectable to a tractor hitch so that the harvester can be pulled across the sugar beet field. The beets are literally dug or pulled from the soil by means of paired lifting wheels having a slight rearward convergence, there being a pair of such wheels for each row. After being lifted by the converging wheels, rotating paddles or flails dislodge the beets by striking them rearwardly onto a cleaning bed. The cleaning bed moves the beets laterally to one side of the frame where they enter the lower portion of an elevator. The elevator then raises the beets to a height sufficient for them to be discharged into a truck, the discharging taking place at the same side of the harvester at which they are elevated. A typical beet harvester is generally described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,137,973, issued to me on Feb. 6, 1979 for "Beet Harvester with Spring System for Protecting Its Lifter Wheels and Paddle Shaft."
All of the sugar beet harvesters with which I am acquainted elevate the beets at one side of the harvester and once elevated discharge the elevated beets at that same side through the agency of an upper elevator extension which projects laterally over the box of a truck or other transport vehicle traveling along that side of the harvester. An example of such harvesting equipment is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,116,279, issued on Sept. 26, 1978 to Donald Lee Kilburn for "Hydraulic Beet Harvester." Elevating and discharging beets at the same side of a sugar beet harvester pose severe problems which have up to this time not been overcome.